Auto dealers · North America · 4 min read
One software supplier, thousands of car dealers, $1 billion lost
$1.02B
lost by dealers in three weeks
On 19 June 2024, ransomware hit CDK Global, the software many car dealers use to sell cars, book services and run payroll. CDK shut most systems down until 5 July. About half of US dealerships struggled to operate.
The bill
- $1.02bn in direct losses to dealers, per Anderson Economic Group.
- About 56,200 new car sales lost in three weeks.
- Extra staff and IT costs on top — not counting lawsuits or reputation.
Why small businesses should care
Most dealers are local businesses. None of them were hacked directly. They lost sales because one shared supplier went down — and they had no plan B.
What to do this week
- Identify the one piece of software your whole business depends on.
- Agree a manual way to keep selling if it stops.
- Train staff to treat unexpected 'supplier' calls and emails during an outage with extra suspicion.
Next breakdown
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